Students going though clearing after collecting their A-level results at Shooters Hill campus, London.
Photograph: Alamy

When Freya Marshall-Payne checked her A-level results four years ago, she felt crushing disappointment. She had slipped a grade in one subject, jeopardising her place to read history at Oxford. “I completely lost the sense I had of a future,” she says.

Marshall-Payne entered clearing rather than take a place at her second-choice university. “It was a stab in the dark,” she says. “I think going into clearing was to escape that devastation.”

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Ringing clearing hotlines was stressful, but it was only when she arrived at her new university, Sussex, that she recognised how difficult the whole experience had been. Readjusting to a new, unexpected city combined with feelings of failure left her with anxiety and depression.

She thinks that if her entry through clearing had been flagged to her academic tutor, it might have opened a conversation about whether she needed extra support from the outset. “I only wish I had got myself on a waiting list for therapy as soon as I arrived at university,” she says.

Marshall-Payne’s experience matters because clearing is now a mainstream route into university. In 2017, 67,000 students entered university through clearing, and this year the number looks set to be higher. Growing demand for clearing has helped reduce stigma, not least because for many students it’s no longer about failure. Some have changed their minds, others are applying for the first time or are trading up after getting higher grades.

But many applicants have, like Marshall-Payne, missed their grades. Student Minds, a mental health charity, has done research into how this affects their university experience. “We know from students we’ve spoken to that it can be a disappointing time,” says policy manager Rachel Piper. “Your expectations can be let down, so it’s important to have time to readjust to the new offer you’ve received.”

I only wish I had got myself on a waiting list for therapy as soon as I arrived at university.

Freya Marshall-Payne

Supporting students through the transition from school to university is a priority for the new regulator, the Office for Students. Piper believes universities can help students through clearing by normalising the experience – starting with communicating how many other students arrived through the same route. Universities should also ensure these students have the same information as other students, and are invited into social groups before the start of term.

And while many universities guarantee accommodation to all students, others will have assigned most rooms to first-choice students. “Having worse-quality accommodation because of clearing can really impact on someone’s sense of belonging and wellbeing during their time at university,” Piper says.

This year, Salford University has introduced a clearing support team in response to the deluge of calls it received from its newest recruits last year. Most of these related to accommodation, which the university doesn’t guarantee, although the team will signpost longer-term support services.

Other universities are more focused on streamlining their results-day services. Christina Edgar, director of student recruitment at Sheffield University, says her focus is on ensuring “responsible recruitment” so students don’t feel pressured into picking the wrong institution by persuasive call centre staff.

The Access Project, a charity, is campaigning for more support for A-level students on results day. According to Lucy Ball, a programme director, students are forced to make decisions in a “hyper-emotional state”, often with limited help from inexperienced teachers and parents.

To reduce students’ anxiety, the Access Project is running clearing preparation workshops in schools across the country. Ideally, though, Ball thinks there should be a two-day window between results day and the opening of clearing to give students time to think about their options.

In the meantime, there are several things universities can do, she suggests. They can help schools by giving them clearer guidance on how to prepare students, and ensuring the staffing of helplines is adequate. Transparency around the profiles of students for whom universities will drop grades is helpful, too.

There’s also evidence to suggest that students who enter university through clearing are more likely to drop out. “Clearing students may be more at risk if they haven’t thought through their decision or taken the time to check out the university they accept before they arrive,” says Emma Leech, director of marketing at Loughborough University.

Loughborough tries to address this through social media campaigns signposting mental health and academic support that are sent to all students, to avoid those who’ve come in through clearing feeling singled out. This year, it has introduced one-to-one follow-up for students coming through clearing if they want it.

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Kam Gill, an academic at Coventry University, is researching how to curb drop-out rates. He has developed a scoring matrix based on student self-evaluation that can identify the students most at risk of dropping out. The two key personality traits are efficacy, meaning tenacity, and self-esteem.

“In terms of clearing students, it’s a difficult one because you can have two types,” he explains. “You can have the ones who have that real high self-esteem about them – I’ve just managed to get through to university by the skin of my teeth, I’m going to make sure I get through. But you can get the other type, who will know getting in through clearing is a risk, and think ‘I might be off by Christmas because I’m not good enough.’”

He says this latter category needs to be flagged to the university as quickly as possible, with a personal tutor called in to allay students worries about the daunting prospect of a three or four-year degree. Instead, the tutor can persuade them to approach their degree in bite-sized chunks, like getting through the first term: “They’re looking at the big picture, and I’m looking at the small picture, the day-to-day.”

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